2021-22 Artist in Residence, Ben Gorodetsky, brings his company PINCH Performance Projects to our 2022 In the Studio series! His work, Landscape Displacement Memory, has been developed throughout his residency with Guelph Dance this year. We spoke to him about the work and the upcoming festival:
GD: What about your work are you most excited to share with the audience?
B: My work comes out of necessity. I’ve been making dances, performances, videos over the last 2 years with drones because I couldn’t collaborate with people. The drone became my witness, my duet partner. At first I was using it just to film myself, but then it became a robotic counterpart with which I processed intimacy, proximity, and gesture. Human and machine. Its movement is controlled by me, my movement is informed by it. This is a performance that comes out of the immediate here and now.
GD: What was your biggest takeaway from the process of creating this work? Has the work shifted over the past few years?
B: As a work that is rooted in improvisation, it is in a constant state of shift. It keeps things responsive, keeps things in a state of slight destabilization. But my biggest takeaway is that things can exist in a constellation of relationships. I made the drone videos about landscape displacement and memory, then I made a live duet with the drone. These two parts evolve out of each other. If I had the patience and possibility, maybe a third section would emerge. The about about about.
GD: This is the first year the GD Festival is showcasing both live and live streamed versions of artist’s works. Can you speak about the opportunity to perform in front of live audiences again as well as view your work digitally?
B: I’m elated to get to share the work live, in person. It’s about loneliness, so to process that together with people is a real counterpoint to the content. I’m also working on integrating the audience into the actual action of the performance, by giving them the projector, which shows the drone camera’s perspective, and letting them choose where to point it. Keep things LIVE with more chance at play, an invitation to destabilization.
You can catch PINCH Performance Projects’ Landscape Displacement Memory at our In the Studio series, happening on Sunday, June 5th from 2:00-4:00 PM. Tickets are now on sale! Visit our festival page to see the full festival schedule and to get your tickets!